Dynamometer



Nov. 20, 1945. A. c. HAGG ETAL DYNAMOMETER Filed March 12, 1942 WITNESSES:

fm Boyd.

2 Sheets-Sheet 1 INVENTORS Ari/702 Q'Hagg and A ORNEY Patented Nov. 20, 1945 sTArE-s rare-NT DYNAMOME'l-ER Arthur .13.. Hagg, Wilkinsburg, nd J hn :ilioyd, F r t Hi1ls, ,Pa, assignors -10 twestinghouse Electric CorporatiomEast Pittsburghfa, ta corporation of Pennsylvania I Application March 12, 1942,, SenialrN-m 434,31 8

5 Claims.

'Thepresent invention relates to dynamometers andlt has particular relation to such devicesembodying .tanimm'oved spring mounting arrangement- Q "Dynamometers-designe'd= fora-neasuringthe outputybear-ing :frictiomwindage, or thebrush frictionoirotating machinery are generally subject to theldisadvantage that the friction orlost motion irr-the 'dynamometer mountingatlectsthe-results. The ordinary bearingmounted dynamometer is flnrexamplecf-the-prior-art-in which this conditioner-lists. According to thepresent invention, however; an elasticmountingarrangement is employed which substantially eliminates friction and otherlostmotion'from the resultsand thu permits accurate torque and power determinations.

in one fiorm .of apparatus according to the present, invention a dynamometer driving motor is elastically supported from a stationary base-by meanscf crosse'dspring members engaging its casing. These spring members are angularly flexible lin.a plane perpendicular to the shaft of the motorand .thus reactto its torque output. The device. undergoing vtest is connected to be driuentfromtthe motor by apulleyiand'jbelt arrangementsorthe. like with the result that the bers. These spring. member are arranged. so as to? intersect. alongtheaxis of the motor and the device maybe calibrated so that the torque output isa linearnflmction of the deflection of the casing. Insteadtoil'measuring the amount of deflection it is,sof-course,; ossible toapply balance weightscr the like -;thereto in opposition ,to the induced torque it thus app ar that the elastic mo ntingtof the arrangement eliminates bearing friction :and :lost imotion as ,p y y pointed out.

It isaccord-ingly an object of the present inventiomtoi rovidea novel dynam m ter which is capable f ;i11rnishing measurements of improved accuracy.

*It-iS-another objector the. invention to p ovide a novel spring mounted dynamometer wherein the reaction ofthe spring mounting provides an inan improved spring mountedbeaning'dynamometer. v

=0the-r objects and advantages of the inventio will appear from the -foliowi-ng--detai-led description read in connection a with the accompanying drawings in which:

.Figure- 1- is afr-ont elevationalview of apparatus adapted to measure the power: consumption of a textile spindle and bobbin --assembly;

Fig. 2 is aisideelevational view: of the apparatus of Fig. '1 with-portions thereofimsecti-onand taken along thelineiII- I'I ofaFig. 1;

Fig. 3 is .a plan tviewofsthe. apparatnsoffigs. 1 and 2;

Fig. 4 is an elevational view of a modified form o-fthe invention; V

omit-:5 isia :view takemalong the line V 710f v; t v

lxliigno iscafronttelevational view'withmortions cutaway of; equi ment adapting their-mention for -measurement: of; bearin friction; and I Fig. 7.;iszasectional viewof the op aratusof Fig. Gtakenalong theline VII-VII of Fig. 6.

Referring to .li'igs. '1 2 and 3,v which illustrate the invention applied to apparatus for measuring the power consumption of a textile spindle and is deflected about its axis to ..an extent depending; upon. the power .or. torque suppliedand. thecharacteristicsotthe spring mountin membobbin assembly, astandardjiis shown extending from a main base member 4. A metal strap 6 rigidly supports a supporting bar or base Brien a vertical position from the standard 2. .A dynamometer motor I!) which maybe 'of'thecompound wound direct current type toprovldendjustable but constant-speeds includes a-rotating shaft or spindle l2 and a casingiM. Avertical attaching bar 16 is secured *toan end of'the-casing [4 as by means of bolts l8. Two pairs of crossed spring members 20 and "22, respectively, are secured to thee-supporting ."bar :18 Kandahar 1 It to furnishsllpportto themotor I0. Thesprin 29.:and .22 l areangularly disposed with respect tto each other so-as to intersect along thelineofzthe axis .of ,the motor shaft l2. In addition-these sprin straps are resilient in a. horizontal plane perpendicular :to ;,t:he ir flat port-ions so that the mounting structure is angularly resilient in :a plane: perpendiculartto the y axis. of .rotationuof the motor. While: two pairs of these springs areDrefera'bly vemployed because of. the ,additionalrigidity provided 1 along x the motor axis, it will be evident that a single pair of such springs meet-the vprimary. requirements of the irutention.

' Also secured to theastandardl is a supportin bar: 24 adapted .to receive the bearing structure '26 of a textile spindle designated genera1 l .1as 2,8 which-also zincludestacbobbin .30 about which a textile thread is adapted to be wound. The spindle in addition includes a pulley 32 which is engaged by a light belt 34 extending from a driving pulley 36 disposed on the shaft l2 of the motor l0.

To the upper end of the standardZ is secured a dial 38 having a scale printed thereon at 40 for cooperationwith an indicating arm 42 secured to the vertical attaching bar Hi. The scale 40 will ordinarily be of the zero center type so as to indicate deflection of the motor casing and arm 42 for either direction or rotation of the motor.

A damping chamber 44 is secured to the standard 2 and is preferably filled with a heavy oil or similar fluid. A damping vane 46 is attached to' the casing of the motor to extend into the fluid in this damping chamber and consequently dampen the deflection thereof as wellas the indication of the pointer 42,

A suitable power supply (not shown) is employed to energize the motor in through a speed control device designated generally as 48. v I In performing a test with this apparatus, the motor! is energized to operate at such a speed as to drive the spindle and bobbin assembly 28 at the desired testing speed. It may readily be determined when the desired speedobtains b applying -a tachometer to the textile spindle in the manner wellknown in the art. With these conditions, the casing M of the motor "I will be deflected about the axis of its spindle l2. The power required to drive the apparatus may readily be calculated from the torque valve determined from the position of the pointer 42 .on the scale 40. V I

As previously-pointed out the deflection of the springs with this particular construction is substantially linearly proportional to the torque output of the motor. The characteristics of this spring mounting correspond to anordinary cantilever spring with a moment applied to the end. Calculations well known to those skilled in the art result in the following formula for the amount of torque per unit deflection of the easing; r

where Mf=applied moment '=,angular'defiection E-Tmodulus of elasticity of spring material b=width of Spring t=thickness of spr N =number of springs l=length of spring a consideration of the principles set forth that.

the dynamometer motor may be horizontally mounted if desired. r

In the modification of the invention shown in Figs. 4 and '5, a 'dynamometer motor 50 has clamps 52 rigidly secured to both ends of its casirigto' in turn engage angularly disposed spring straps 54} "These springs are rigidly fixed to-a base member 56 in such a manner that the extensions of the springs intersect along the axis of the motor. The rotatable shaft 58 of this motor carries a pulley 60 adapted to drive a 'belt 62 which may be disposed to drive the rotor of a motor 64 undergoing a test for friction losses or the like.

7 An indicating arm 66 isrigidly secured to the casing 50 in such a manner that its end normally is disposed at a zero point on a stationary scale 68. Along the arm 66 is secured a first end of a spring gage 10, the other end of which engages a clamp 12. One end of the gage is preferably supported in an adjustable manner so that its tension may be varied by means of a wing nut 14.

With this modified form of the invention the casing of the motor 50 is deflected upwardly in accordance with the power it transmits to the motor 84 when driving it in a clockwise direction in Fig. 4. However, the spring mounting arrangement employed here ma not be linearly deflected by the torque over or under a rangeas desired so that it it is generally preferred to determine its value through the medium of the spring gage 10. With the system in stable operation the nut 14 is adjusted until the indicating arm 66 is brought to its zero position. In this condition the tension on the spring gage "l0 furnishes an accurate indication of the torque out put of the motor 50. Although this spring bal might be applied to the arm 66 in opposition to the torque acting on the casing .to bring it back 'toits normal undeflected position and in such a case the value of the weights will indioate'the value of the torque output. If desired-the ap aratus may be calibrated by means "of such weights and the scale 68 marked so'thatthe displacement of the arm 66 provides an accurate in. dication of the torque.

In the apparatus of Figs. Sand 7 theinvention is adapted to measure bearing friction. In this case a motor 76, only part of which is shown, drives a main shaft 18 which preferably rests in spaced bearing supports designated as and 82, respectively. These bearingsare adapted to keep the shaft 18 in proper alignment-and pre vent vibration which would otherwise-seriously interfere with the accuracy of the results. Secured to a base 84 which supports the bearings and standards 80 and 82 is a stud 8B which pivotally supports a lever 88. One end or this lever 88 is pivotally secured to a rigid base structure '90 to which is secured a' bearing support or cradle 92 through angularly disposed spring members designated as 94. These spring members 94 are 'angularly flexible in a plane perpendicular to the ,axis of the shaft 18 and; are; so disposed that extensions thereof normally intersect at the center of the axis of theshaft.

Th supporting member or cradle 92 has'an open center portion within which may, be. dis; posed a semi-circular bearing 96 which' is to be tested. This bearing is rigidly fixedrelatiye to the support member by means of set screws 98 and a weight I00 disposed on the lever 88 acts to press the bearing upwardly against the shaft for frictional engagement therewith. Also secured to the supporting member 92 is an indicating arm I02 which is adapted to coincide withthe zero point of a stationary scale I04 when th standard is in its normal undeflected position. A spring gage I06 is securedto the arm I02 and; aimed support I08 to exert a downward force on the arm tending to bring it towards its zero position.

Spaced link members 9011 are secured to the base structure 90 and a stationary support 9| to permit the slight vertical movement of the base structure resulting from the variations in the upward pressure thereon while preventing accidental rotary movement thereof as a result of rotation of the shaft 18. To provide this result the links should be somewhat flexible in a vertical plane.

With the shaft 18 being driven in a clockwise direction as indicated by the arrow, its frictional engagement with the bearing 96 will tend to deflect the arm I02 in a clockwise direction away from the zero point on the scale. In order to determine the value of the torque impressed upon the supporting member the wing nut H is adjusted to bring the arm to ,zero position at which point the indication of the spring gage I06 furnishes a measurement of the desired torque.

With this last modification of the invention, various different bearings may be disposed within the supporting cradle 92 to have their frictional characteristics determined. During the tests the amount of force exerted on the bearing may very readily be varied and adjusted by changing the position of the weight I00 along the lever 88. It will likewise appear that with this modification balance weights might be attached to the arm I02 to obtain the torque measurement in lieu of employing the spring balance From the above description, the simplicity as well as the accuracy of the dynamometer of the present invention Will be readily appreciated. As was previously pointed out, an important feature of the invention is that friction and lost motion in the dynamometer mounting are substantially eliminated. In addition the principles, described are readily adaptable to various different torque or power measuring problems.

Since various modifications of the specific forms of the apparatus shown and described by way of example will appear to those skilled in the art, it is intended that the invention shall be limited only by the spirit and scope of the appended claims.

We claim as our invention:

1. The combination in a dynamometer of a member disposed to be acted upon by a torque dependent upon the output of a rotating shaft, a base, a pair of flat springs normally disposed angularly to each other along lines intersecting the axis of said shaft to support said member relative to said base, said springs being angularly flexible in the direction of application of a torque acting upon said member as a result of rotation of said shaft, and means for determining the magnitude of a torque acting on said member by measuring the displacement of said member due to the flexing of springs reacting to such torque.

2. The combination in a dynamometer of a motor including a stationary portion and a rotatable shaft for driving a rotatable member, a base member, spring members attached to said base member at spaced points and angularly disposed to each other extending along lines intersecting the axis of said rotatable shaft to support the stationary portion of said motor in a manner to permit displacement thereof about said axis, means on the stationary portion of said motor for indicating its position relative to its normal undisplaced position when its rotatable shaft is stationary, and means for applying a known torque to said stationary portion in opposition to the torque produced by driving said rotatable member.

3. The combination in a dynamometer of a motor including a casing and a rotatable shaft for driving a rotatable member, a base member, a pair of crossed spring members engaging said casing to support said motor from said base member, said spring members being angularly flexible in a plane perpendicular to the axis of said rotatable shaft and normally intersecting in line therewith, and means for indicating the displacement of said casing relative to its normal undisplaced position to provide an indication of the torque applied to the rotatable member.

4. The combination in a dynamometer of a motor including a casing and a rotatable shaft for driving a rotatable member, a base member, a pair of crossed spring members engaging said casing to support said motor from said base member, said spring members normally intersecting in line with the axis of said rotatable shaft and being angularly flexible in the plane of rotation thereof to permit displacement of said casing in proportion to the torque applied to the rotatable member, means for indicatingthe displacement of said casing relative to its normal undisplaced position, a stationary damping chamber including a damping fluid therein, and a damping vane secured to said casing and disposed in said damping chamber to steady the displacement of said casing.

5. In a dynamometer including a rotor mounted for rotation on a shaft, a stationary field member for cooperation therewith and means on said shaft for transmitting the torque thereof to a rotatable member, a base, means for resiliently supporting said field member on said base to permit displacement of said field member in response to torque transmitted to said rotatable member, said means comprising a pair of flat spring members connecting said field member and base and resilient in a direction perpendicular to the axis of said rotor shaft, means for measuring the displacement of said field member in response to the torque transmitted to said rotatable member, and means for damping such displacement.

ARTHUR C. HAGG.

JOHN BOYD. 

